Sheridan House

Updated 9 December 2020

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008.

As part of CQC’s response to the coronavirus pandemic we are conducting a thematic review of infection control and prevention measures in care homes.

The service was selected to take part in this thematic review which is seeking to identify examples of good practice in infection prevention and control.

This inspection took place on 12 November and was announced.

Updated 9 December 2020

About the service

Sheridan House is a residential care home providing personal care and support to nine people with learning disabilities and autism at the time of the inspection. The care home is a large building across two floors. Each person’s bedroom has ensuite facilities as well as having access to a shared dining room, lounge, kitchen and large garden.

The service has been developed and designed in line with the principles and values that underpin Registering the Right Support and other best practice guidance. This ensures that people who use the service can live as full a life as possible and achieve the best possible outcomes. The principles reflect the need for people with learning disabilities and/or autism to live meaningful lives that include control, choice, and independence. People using the service receive planned and co-ordinated person-centred support that is appropriate and inclusive for them.

The service was registered for the support of up to nine people. This care home was larger than current best practice guidance. However, the size of the service having a negative impact on people was mitigated by the building design fitting into the residential area and the other large domestic homes of a similar size. There were deliberately no identifying signs, intercom, cameras, industrial bins or anything else outside to indicate it was a care home.

People’s experience of using this service and what we found

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

The recently employed registered manager had made a lot of changes to the environment and care practices that meant people experienced more personalised support and a homelier atmosphere with lots of photographs, flowers and redecoration.

People were able to access food and drink when they wanted and staff understood their dietary needs. People had choice and staff supported them to access a range of health and social care professionals.

The service applied the principles and values of Registering the Right Support and other best practice guidance. These ensure that people who use the service can live as full a life as possible and achieve the best possible outcomes that include control, choice and independence.

The outcomes for people using the service reflected the principles and values of Registering the Right Support by promoting choice and control, independence and inclusion. People's support focused on them having as many opportunities as possible for them to gain new skills and become more independent.

People and their relatives and advocates were fully involved in all decisions about their care and support. Staff treated people kindly, with compassion and respect and worked hard to support their different communication needs to enable people to have a voice and make choices.

People felt safe as they were supported by staff who were trained to understand their conditions and risks were well managed. People had access to enough staff to meet their needs at all times. Staff had a good understanding of how to keep people safe and were confident to report concerns. People were supported well with their medicines including reducing medicines where possible and safe to do so.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk

Rating at last inspection

The last rating for this service was good (published 27 April 2017).

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.